Darts

[Gardian]

Well, it's Sport, but not in France.

I've been watching this week's World Championship and thoroughly enjoying most of the matches. Whenever I've played in the past, I've always considered getting in the 'general vicinity' of the number I'm going for to be a success, let alone the degree of accuracy displayed by these guys.

Anyway, Eric Bristow has been mentioned in commentary several times and he was of course a great champion. You never seem to hear anything of him these days though - a good interview subject I'd have thought.  Anybody know what he's doing?

[cooperlola]

Isn't he heavily involved in some kind of youth programme?  Don't know why I think so.  I must google him!

Edit : Nope, quite wrong, must have been somebody else:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Bristow

Apparently busy beating people up and doing exhibition matches!

[Gardian]

Thanks Coops - interesting read.

[Llwyncelyn]

I come from South Wales and its a pastime to play darts and snooker for it was a way of life for the mining communities.  The first Embassy World Champion was Leighton Rees from Ynysybwl who unfortunately died relatively young and could not handle the pressure both of the booze and the money and died a pauper and was made bankrupt.  I knew Leighton very well.  He started as a warehouse worker in a engineering firm and his mates on the shop floor made for him the first set of tungsten darts and which he perfected to a fine art.  Of course today Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barnveld all have their darts especially made for them.  Those of you who have thrown a dart will know that darts do not normally enter the board they way that Taylor and Barnveld make them behave.  Their darts start from a lower angle and then come into the board that way.  Darts normally do not do that!

I have seen Mr Bristow and when he became world champion he did lots and lots of exhibition matches and thats where his cash came from.

He I think now owns a pub with his wife who also used to play darts.

Again he gave the game up once for he could not release a dart.

Moreover Jocky Wilson was a wonderful player and in those days you could both smoke on the stage and have people give you drink to keep going.

In last weeks World Championship one player said he could not release a dart because of nerves unless he had drunk seven pints and a double brandy.  Drinking and smoking on stage is now banned.

The young dart players of today do not need drink to play.

Of course the BDO world Champion is Welsh and comes from Denbigh in North Wales.  Darts was never strong in North Wales but I bet it will become so now.

take care

[cooperlola]

I remember the old booze and fag days.  Not the Nine O'Clock News did an hilarious take on this - a match between "Fatbelly" and "Evenfatterbelly" having a beer drinking contest. Very funny.

[Ian]

I read recently that the great Jocky Wilson had fallen on hard times too.  Great to see a Welsh world champion this weekend!

[Gardian]

Yes, it was good to see the Welsh guy win.  My 'favourite' was Martin Adams, who nearly came back in the semi.  He's good enough to win again another year.

Will probably watch a bit of the snooker this week (especially if this ****** awful weather continues). That's another game that I excel at - my lifetime best break is 9. 

[Ian]

I had a one four seven once .... unfortunately that was 3 successive breaks of one, four and seven.[:(]